DEEP RUN — When Donald Mooring took over the girls basketball program at South Lenoir he vowed a better brand of basketball.

It showed against North Lenoir on Friday.

Heather West scored 23 points and Demeyia Adams added 11 points and 17 rebounds as the Blue Devils played as good a first half of basketball as Mooring could have hoped for in their 72-49 win over the Hawks at home.

Caroline Jones added 13 first-half points and three assists and Marquia Suddeth scored nine points and grabbed six boards as South Lenoir (5-2) hit 17 of 30 field goal attempts in the first half, committed only 10 turnovers and forced the Hawks (1-8) into 13 in the first 16 minutes of play.

“We’re improving around here. We’re starting to slow down and do the little things that make basketball pretty,” Mooring said.

“No, it wasn’t perfect. But we’re getting better with each game.”

The Blue Devils, who have already exceeded their win total from last season, hit four of their first five shots in building an early 8-3 lead and finished the half shooting 57 percent.

Meanwhile, the Hawks couldn’t seem to keep the ball and when they did get a shot off more often than not it didn’t fall.

North Lenoir turned it over 34 times on the night — 21 in the second half — while South Lenoir had just 14 turnovers heading into the final period.

Quoya Porter scored the first eight points for North Lenoir, which fell behind by as many as 26, and was done in by a key 9-0 spurt by the Blue Devils in the second period.

Porter led the Hawks with 19 points. Emily Varnell had nine points and 11 rebounds, nine offensive, for North Lenoir, which outrebounded South Lenoir 47-43.

South Lenoir had 15 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points.

NORTH LENOIR 77, SOUTH LENOIR 66

The Hawks scored the first 11 points of the game, and until a late South Lenoir run made things a little tense North Lenoir was completely in control.

Billy Summers and Jauquaz Jones scored 17 points each and North Lenoir (6-3) blew things open with a 26-point second quarter.

Freshman Jonte Midgette scored a game-high 24 points for South Lenoir (3-4), which got the Hawks’ lead down to nine at 68-59 with just over 2 minutes to play. But they were able to answer with baskets on back-to-back possessions to not allowed the Blue Devils to get any closer.

The nine-point margin was the closest the game had been since was 21-12 early in the second quarter.

Ishmael Baldwin added 17 points and Jaquan Wooten scored 15 for the Blue Devils, who dropped their second game to North Lenoir this season. The Hawks also got 11 points from Javonta King.

A moment of silence was held prior to tip-off to honor the 26 victims and their families of the deadly shooting that took place early Friday at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.